PlanScope Blog
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
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8370 articlesUnilateral undertaking against a bilateral section 106 deed
Both instruments are made under section 106 and both bind the land. The difference is that a unilateral undertaking cannot contain any obligation on the authority.
Budgeting for the local validation checklist
Local validation requirements drive the cost of an application pack, not the national list. Price each triggered item as a named line before quoting, and challenge the items that cannot be material.
Consenting a live music venue and the agent of change test
Live music venues are sui generis and the agent of change principle decides who bears the mitigation cost. Low frequency sound insulation and patron dispersal are what the case turns on.
Reports for a vertical farm in a warehouse
A controlled environment vertical farm in an existing warehouse needs permission, and the use class is unsettled. Grid capacity, light spill, plant noise and trade effluent drive the evidence.
A council's statement of community involvement explained
Section 18 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires every authority to publish a statement of community involvement. The statutory publicity minimum is a separate duty.
Grey belt and the golden rules for Green Belt release
The grey belt route gives a development management answer where a plan has not kept up, conditional on golden rules covering affordable housing, infrastructure and public green space.
Objecting on tree grounds and asking for a protection order
Asking for a Tree Preservation Order takes a letter and the right evidence. In a conservation area the six week notice under section 211 is the mechanism that actually saves trees.
Measuring whether a drafting tool saved time
Measure the whole cycle from instruction to a document you will sign, including verification and rework. Without a baseline from your own time records, there is nothing to compare.
Temporary loss of light from scaffolding and hoardings
Temporary obstruction of light by scaffolding or a hoarding is not a planning matter. The controls sit in highway licences, construction management plans and private nuisance.
Householder application against a full application
The householder category is defined by what you are proposing, not chosen. It carries a different fee, lighter validation and the 12 week expedited appeal route.
Heritage budgeting: desk assessment against intrusive recording
Heritage spend splits between desk-based analysis and intrusive recording or evaluation. The recording level and the post-excavation assumption decide what the client actually pays.
Consenting an anaerobic digestion plant on a farm
An on-farm anaerobic digestion plant needs planning permission and an environmental permit. Where the feedstock comes from and where the energy goes decides how the use is characterised.
Reports for a dental practice in a converted house
A house to dental surgery conversion needs full permission for a change of use from Class C3 to Class E(e). Parking demand and plant noise are what actually decide the application.
Section 73B and the limits on amending a permission
Section 73B was inserted to fill the gap left between non-material amendments and condition variations. It does not solve the Hillside problem, and its commencement needs checking.
Party wall rights alongside planning permission
Planning permission is public law and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is private law. Holding one does not give you the other, and section 6 excavation notices catch most rear extensions.
Why a devolved application needs a different policy base
An English policy base does not transfer to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The plan hierarchy, the statutory duties, the flood framework and the terminology all change.
Deferred contributions and the security an authority accepts
Where an authority agrees to defer a section 106 financial contribution it will want security. The choice between a bond, a guarantee, a legal charge and an occupation restriction decides the real cost.
When a daylight assessment is required on the validation list
No national rule requires a daylight assessment. The requirement comes from the authority's own local validation list, and the trigger is usually set by storeys, separation distance or whether new flats are proposed.
Budgeting a transport evidence base by scheme size
The transport evidence base scales in steps. Work out which document the authority requires before commissioning surveys, and order the low cost work so it de-risks the expensive work.
Bat roost found during a bungalow loft conversion
An illustrative walkthrough of a bungalow loft conversion where a bat roost was confirmed, showing how the May to September survey season and the licensing route reshaped the programme.
Prior approval against permitted development without it
Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015 splits permitted development into rights you can simply exercise and rights suspended until prior approval. The difference governs certainty, fees and conditions.
Planning permission for a riding school and indoor arena
Keeping horses commercially falls outside the agricultural exemption, so a riding school and its covered arena need express permission. Access visibility, arena scale and manure storage usually decide the case.
Reports for a parcel locker and courier hub
A last mile courier hub needs transport, noise, drainage and utilities evidence shaped around pre-dawn van departures and fleet charging load, not warehouse trip rates.
Budgeting an ecology package across the survey seasons
Ecology cost is driven by which month you start, not by day rates. Commission the appraisal in autumn, book spring survey slots, and price a second season as a named line.
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